Originally posted on August 22, 2013 (still learning to post blogs!):

Rotorua is actually the second stop on my two-week New Zealand adventure. It's now mid-August, which is their winter, and great for me! Well, not that I'm into winter sports or anything, but the factors that fell in my favor included the lowest airfare I'd ever seen for a roundtrip here—as in half of what it normally is!—lower prices for accommodations (though still average when compared to U.S. accommodations), less crowds at the attractions and just less congestion on the roads than during their high summer season.

There's definitely a chill in the air, but that's fine, especially when combined with the hot sun—perfect weather for what they call tramping (what we call hiking) and hitting the paths. However, it's normal this time of year for one day to be perfectly sunny and breezy, and the next day, rainy and cold. Today was such a day and tomorrow is forecast to be the same. Oh well, just go with the flow and hope the day after tomorrow will be sunny. I do have a ticket for Skyline Rotorua (a gondola ride) and riding the luge down three different routes, so I'm hoping for the best on my last day here.

I'll definitely share more of my trip, but for now, let me just introduce myself a bit more. First, I sincerely appreciate your visit to my website! It's been a year of off and on planning and researching what exactly I wanted to accomplish through this site, followed by weeks of building. So just what do I wish to accomplish?

At first, the goal was to share the images I've taken over the years, maybe sell them if anybody was ever interested in purchasing any of them. Create cards, calendars, posters...the usual route that people go to create additional income. I do like some images more than others, but all of them are equally my creation, and they are all works in progress. I am not a professional photographer by any means, but am gradually working my way up to get there. We'll see what the future holds with a lot more hard work.

After the initial ideas started to flow, then the idea of blogging followed. I absolutely L-O-V-E sharing my travels and tips with anyone who will listen, so why not? I've been on a number of road trips in the U.S. throughout the years with a friend, and within the last few years, started traveling solo. My solo trips have been short ones to Arizona, Oregon and California. I've been to Japan a number of times on my own with set agendas, but this trip to New Zealand is the first "real" international trip with me, myself and I. A little anxious, for sure, with having to drive on the left side of the road in addition to navigating on my own (I refuse to do the GPS thing for some reason).

So anyway, the focus of this website will, I'm sure, morph into something else down the line, but for now, it's just right.

I really look forward to being creative on this site and hope you'll come to visit every now and then. If you have any feedback on any part of my site—comments, suggestions, thoughts, etc.—please share them with me. I'd really like to hear from you. I'll also be posting more throughout my NZ adventure!